Private Plans Seen Key to Showing Power of Vouchers

INDIANAPOLIS--Privately funded voucher programs are critical to
sustaining the momentum of the private-school-choice movement in the
wake of electoral defeats of government-voucher plans and proponents,
participants at a conference here have agreed.

The private plans will serve as real-world models that can
demonstrate the power of vouchers to rescue children from failing
public schools, said those attending the conference here this month
sponsored by the Educational Choice Charitable Trust, a program that is
providing 925 Indianapolis-area students with vouchers.

"The biggest impact of [a private voucher plan] is that it is
real,''' said Timothy Ehrgott, the executive director of the
Indianapolis program. "It is not a study, and it is not a
public-relations effort.''

"We have all seen polls showing support for [private school] choice,
but when you see the number of children lining up for the chance for a
better education, that is a very powerful message,'' added Kevin
Teasley, the director of a California group that is backing a June 1994
statewide ballot measure on vouchers.

Four Major Programs

The two-day conference was intended for anyone interested in
establishing a voucher plan with private funds. The first such program
was launched here in 1991 by J. Patrick Rooney, the chairman of the
Golden Rule Insurance Company.

The Choice Trust program has since been replicated in San Antonio,
Milwaukee, and Atlanta, with a smattering of small-scale programs in
other cities. (See Education Week, Sept. 16, 1992.)

Typically, the programs use corporate and private donations to
provide vouchers to children from low-income families. The vouchers
cover one-half of tuition for a private school, or a public school in
another district, up to a maximum grant that varies from $750 in San
Antonio to $3,000 in Atlanta.

The number of students served among the four major programs ranges
from 179 in Atlanta to 1,953 in Milwaukee, and hundreds more are on
waiting lists.

The Milwaukee program operates separately from the city's
controversial state-funded voucher program for private schools.

Critics contend that the privately funded voucher programs detract
from efforts to improve the public schools and offer false hope to
low-income families, since only a limited number of vouchers are
available.

But supporters argue that the programs are helping significant
numbers of children move to better schools and creating an atmosphere
of competition that will prod public school systems to improve.

"To me, the critical issue is that we empower parents to make
decisions that are now being made by nameless, faceless bureaucrats,''
said State Rep. William A. Crawford of Indiana, who plans to introduce
a bill to establish a state voucher system that would include private
schools.

An Opportunity for Research

The conference here attracted more than 80 participants, many of
whom said they hoped to launch their own local efforts.

Establishing privately funded programs in California would build
support for the 1994 ballot measure, said Mr. Teasley.

"We need two Golden Rule-type projects--one for Northern California
and one for Southern California,'' said Mr. Teasley, adding that he
hopes to initiate a program in Los Angeles in the coming months.

John Cooper, a representative of Floridians for Educational Choice,
said his organization is looking at creating a voucher program modeled
on the Indianapolis plan, perhaps in the Orlando area.

The group also favors a state-funded voucher program that would
include private schools, and is considering a drive to place the
question on the ballot.

A privately funded plan is "worth doing in its own right, and it
serves a public-policy purpose,'' Mr. Cooper said.

The private programs can also help the choice movement by presenting
an opportunity for research on the impact of vouchers, several
participants noted.

The Hudson Institute and Butler University in Indianapolis have
launched a three-year longitudinal study of the Educational Choice
Charitable Trust, while the San Antonio program will be the subject of
a similar study by the University of North Texas.

"There is a need for independent research on these programs,'' said
Michael Heisse, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute, a think tank
here. The only other research on a private-school-choice program, he
noted, is an ongoing study being performed by John F. Witte of the
University of Wisconsin on the Milwaukee state-funded voucher
program.

Setbacks on Election Day

Proponents also expect the research to help the movement for
publicly funded vouchers, which suffered setbacks on Election Day with
the rejection of a voucher ballot measure in Colorado and the defeat of
President Bush, who supported the inclusion of private schools in
voucher proposals.

David Boaz, the executive vice president of the Washington-based
Cato Institute, said he was not concerned about the effect on the
choice movement of the election of Bill Clinton as President. The
President-elect supports public school choice, but opposes government
choice programs that include private schools.

"I'm not that concerned about the change in administrations,'' Mr.
Boaz said. "Ultimately, education is a state and local issue. If
anything, this may galvanize local support for private school
choice.''

But the defeat of the voucher proposal in Colorado "was a real
disappointment,'' Mr. Boaz acknowledged. "I would like to see the
percentages [supporting vouchers] grow, but I expect we will lose
several battles before we win one.''

Mr. Boaz said it was important to push forward with both publicly
funded voucher programs and private plans.

Conference organizers said they would like to have 25 privately
funded programs in place by the fall of 1994.

Toward that end, participants were provided with a hefty manual
written by Robert B. Aguirre, the managing director of the Children
Educational Opportunity Foundation in San Antonio.

The manual, which includes descriptions of current programs and
sample legal documents, press releases, and organizational tips, is
available for $9.95 plus $5 shipping and handling from the C.E.O.
Foundation, P.O. Box 17447, San Antonio, Tex. 78217; (512)
829-0305.

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